Forbes columnist Steven Salzberg and author-investigator Joe Nickell will each be awarded the 2012 Robert P. Balles Prize in Critical Thinking, to be presented by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry at the CFI Summit in October.

Faith Healing and Skepticism in Pakistan: Challenges and Instability

With the rise of Islamic extremism in Pakistan, the country not only has to protect people from fraudulent healers but also has the challenge of protecting these fraudsters from violence.

Pakistani skeptics face unique problems with the rise of lawless religious extremism on one hand, and a government that protects Islam on the other. Faith
healing is an old tradition that no time period or culture has a monopoly on. Despite differences in religions, faith healers who claim to heal the sick
through religious belief exist throughout the world. Some claim to be gods, prophets, or intermediaries between the physical and metaphysical realms. South
Asia is no different in that regard.

Whether people follow Islam or Hinduism, the believers who accept faith healing have a wide range of people who will take their money for promises of
spiritual healing. While the “rat children” of Pakistan can be seen begging for money on the streets, in recent years faith healers in several parts of
Pakistan have disappeared from public view. Since 2008, many have taken their “healing” underground, making their activities more difficult to track. For
skeptics, this would at first seem like a cause to celebrate. However, this drop should not imply the change is from public critical thinking and a growth
of scientific skepticism. It has to do more with an alarming trend in the other direction, which has to do with the rise of religious violence in Pakistan.

As readers of the Skeptical Inquirer are well aware, faith healing attracts many types of people to its practice. These include outright frauds, people who
believe their own unproven statements, and those who mix fraud and belief in their own claims. In North America and Europe, one might witness a pastor
giving spiritual advice followed with an incantation where someone is “healed.” Likewise in Paki­stan, it might be a “Pir,” an “elder” who gives his
followers spiritual advice and a blessing. One Pir told The News that while there are some frauds “there are many who are serving the public through the
verses of the holy Quran” (“Faith Healers” 2009). Official statistics about faith healing in Pakistan are difficult to obtain. Yet in 2005, some official
numbers about the “prevalence of fake spiritual healers” were published under Home Minister Rauf Siddiqui. Accord­ing to the Daily Times, the breakdown
was: “91 fake faith healers and magicians operating in Sindh thus far, including 44 in Karachi, 31 in Hyder­abad and 16 in Sukkur” (“Practices of Fake
Faith Healers ...” 2011).

In Gujrat, Pakistan, faith healing and child exploitation are combined with chuhas (“rats” in Urdu), which are better known as the “rat children” of
Pakistan. On any given day at the shrine of Shah Dola (also spelled “Daula”), “hundreds of worshippers come to celebrate the life of one of Pakistan’s most
revered Sufi saints” (Galpin 1998). People bring their mentally retarded children to the shrine for a blessing, hoping it will make them better (Bragg
2001). Women also gather at the tomb praying for a cure for infertility. Yet if they then conceive, the myth goes, “the couple can expect their first-born
to be handicapped—a rat child with a tiny head. And it must be handed over to the shrine” (Galpin 1998). If the couples do not keep that commitment, God
will punish them. Around the shrine are children who are mentally and physically deformed with microcephaly, or small skulls, supposedly with features like
rats, and they cannot speak. These children beg for money from morning until night and usually have no problem getting it, since many believe the disabled
are closer to God.

Many believe that people hand over healthy babies, which are then de­formed to look like “rats” using crude devices and then sold to criminal
organizations. According to Anusheh Hus­sain, head of Sahil—a nongovernment organization against child abuse—the children are sold for as low as 40,000
rupees (about $10). Pirzada Imtiaz Syed, a trade union leader, said: “I have not seen this myself but I have heard from many people that they use iron
rings which are placed on the baby’s head to stop it growing. I believe there are about 10,000 rat children in Paki­stan controlled by a mafia of beggars
who are all over the country. These children are also physically and sexually abused” (Galpin 1998). While people associated with the shrine deny that, and
claim the deformity is genetic, Qasim Mehdi, Pakistan’s top genetic scientist who studied the “rat children,” said that it is “medically impossible”
because a genetic disease must be carried in the family and passed through parents to children, but these children are not related. According to the
Integrated Regional Information Net­works, which is an independent part of the United Nations, the theory that the children are forced “to wear metal caps
which constrain the normal growth of the head” was developed and re­searched “by one of Pakistan’s top scientists, who was then banned from talking about
the issue following media exposure several years ago.” (Integrated Regional Information Networks 2002).

This picture, taken on July 17, 2008, shows a Pakistani devotee touching the feet of Nadia, a twenty-five-year-old microcephalic “rat woman” at the shrine of Shah Dola. According to local legend, infertile women who pray at Shah Dola's shrine will be granted children, but the first child will be born microcephalic and must be given to the shrine or else any further children will have the same deformity. AFP PHOTO/Farooq NAEEM

South Asia provides unique problems for skeptics in the region compared with North America and Europe. With centuries of tradition and severe economic
inequality throughout the region, superstition is rampant in Bangladesh, Paki­stan, and India. In the case of India, since the 1970s, Indian rationalist
groups have grown in number and influence but have also built ties with the international rationalist community. Basava Prema­nand (1930–2009) from Kerala,
India, was an early post-independence rationalist speaker and writer, detailing how some Hindu gurus trick believers. In the 1970s, Premanand began
criticizing Sathya Sai Baba (1926–2011), an Indian “God man,” eventually founding the Federation of Indian Rationalist Asso­cia­tions, which coordinates
the activities of dozens of rationalist associations through­out India. Another prominent figure is Prabir Ghosh who is a more recent Indian skeptic and
writer who offers a cash prize similar to that of the James Randi Educational Foundation for demonstration of paranormal abilities in India. Their mission
has not been easy. Indian skeptics have faced attacks in a variety of ways, including Premanand surviving four assassination attempts (Datta 2004).

Pakistanis have dealt with the problem differently, and due to political instability as well as blasphemy laws it also faces unique challenges. Moham­med
Younus Shaikh is a medical doctor, rationalist, and human rights ac­tivist who started The Enlighten­ment, a rationalist society, in Pakistan in 1992. His
organization came to a halt in October 2000, when he was charged with blasphemy for a lecture he supposedly gave at Capital Medical Col­lege. Not only did
Shaikh deny committing blasphemy, he denied even giving a lecture there. Nonetheless, he was fined 100,000 rupees and sentenced to death (Price 2001). The
law to prevent “derogatory remarks about Prophet Mohammed” was added to the Pakistani Penal Code in 1986, and remains on record despite attempts by
President Musharraf to change the law just a year before Shaikh was arrested. For three years, the IHEU, the Sea of Faith, and Amnesty International
campaigned for his release. He was finally acquitted of blasphemy in November 2003 and immediately fled to Europe. After his acquittal, he described the
event as “Islamic terrorism through the abuse of law and of the state apparatus.” When Shaikh left the country, Pakistan lost a critical voice against
superstition and encouraged would-be skeptics to remain silent about religion. Despite the absence of skeptics questioning belief, there has recently been
a change in faith healing activity throughout Pakistan.

With the rise of lawlessness in some areas of Pakistan that border Afghan­istan, comes a trend that seems to be only increasing in areas without effective
government. Since late 2007, places such as Peshawar, in the Federally Admin­istered Tribal Areas, have seen an in­crease of instability caused by the
Pakistani Taliban. From the lack of effective law enforcement, radical Mus­lims have been emboldened to attack and murder those they disagree with or who
do not follow their interpretation of the Quran, which includes faith healers. They have attacked and threatened faith healers with claims that the
“healers” are fraudsters misusing the Quran and misleading Islamic believers, or that the healers are false prophets.

In 2008 and 2009, many Pirs who practiced faith healing were picked up from around Peshawar and were re­leased only when they promised no longer to engage
in those activities. Others have not been so lucky. In Jan­uary 2009, one faith healer was blown up by explosives in Peshawar after he was told to stop his
“illegal and un-Islamic” practice, but did not submit to the intimidation. Several others were attacked as well, including one who was beheaded, and a
faith healing business was also destroyed. In fact, Phool Badshah, a faith healer, was murdered within the limits of the Yakatoot Police Station
jurisdiction. The police, it appears, have been powerless to stop these attacks.

In 2011, some segments of the Pakistani government began listening to critics of faith healing in other parts of the country. In Karachi, which has felt
the lower levels of militancy, hundreds of faith healers openly do business. Accord­ing to the Daily Times, “They are indulged in fleecing innocent masses
with a sole purpose to extract money from them on the cost of their plights” (“Practices of Fake Faith Healers ...” 2011). Umair Alam, who was taken
advantage of, explained his situation: “I don’t believe them any more as I have personally experienced their deceitful skills. I paid 25,000 [rupees] to a
faith healer, who ran his business in Surjani Town, when I was trapped in a serious domestic problem. He initially assured me of getting all my problems
solved within 45 days. But, subsequently, nothing happened and he refused to return my money, saying it will take more cash for solving the problem”
(“Practices of Fake Faith Healers ...” 2011). With stories of fraud and abuse as well as intimidation and murder in other parts of the country, the
government has shown some interest in addressing fraud.

In June 2011, Nadia Gabol, Sindh Minister for Human Rights, described spiritual healing as “no more than a matter of money making.” Gabol said that the
practice should be banned. In fact, she announced, “It is a matter worth concern. After deliberations with our parliamentary leader, we will take this
issue to the provincial assembly” (“Practices of Fake Faith Healers ...” 2011). Likewise, Fayyaz Ahmed Lag­hari, the Inspector General Police in Sindh,
said that action will be taken against the fraudsters when the police receive formal complaints. Time will tell whether the Pakistani government can
protect its citizens from attacks and whether the authorities can stem the fraudulent activities of faith healers. Yet, it seems that at least government
officials speaking about the problem is a move in the right direction.

There is no doubt that faith healers, who make promises to mentally and physically heal sick people, need to be scrutinized and should be held accountable
for their claims. But this should be done through laws and courts, not through intimidation. With the rise of Islamic extremism in Paki­stan, the country
not only has to protect people from fraudulent healers but also has the challenge of protecting fraudsters from violence. Skeptics en­courage critical
thinking. The silencing of opponents through threats is not critical thinking but rather the opposite. Both skeptics and faith healers can agree: the
violent intimidation and threats to Pirs is not acceptable. It re­mains to be seen what, if anything, the Pakistani government can do be­cause the
government needs to not only protect its citizens’ safety and stop fraud, but it also needs stability.

Content copyright CSI or the respective copyright holders. Do not redistribute without obtaining permission. Thanks to the ESO for the image of the Helix Nebula, also NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team for the image of NGC 3808B (ARP 87).